hi, i am interested in going to the buttermilks in march with a 11 month old baby, i dont know much about the area. is it good for a child? what is the weather usually like in march and is there camping or a cheap place to stay? i will be flying from bc, is there places to rent crash pads?

The camping in the area is "dry". As in no running water in the campgrounds, but they should have pit toilets. The area is a high desert, though most of the vegatation is sage brush. Check out the photos for the area here (RC) and MP to see for yourself. I have taken my kids camping in such conditions around the area, but not specifically in Bishop-Buttermilks. All the usual things to do, hassles, and cautions with camping very young kids. Regarding the Weather, check out records and averages on http://Weather.com for Bishop, CA. Offhand I'm guessing it would cold and quite windy in March. For all your climbing and camping needs, check Wilsons eastside sports. http://eastsidesports.com/eastside/good luck

A baby shouldn't hold you back and keep you from hitting the road. Bouldering is a great way to go as you can watch the little one more easily than if you're on routes.

Gripped magazine did a great article a few months ago on road trips with young kids. Had some great tips, check it out.

And thats saying something. Anyrate, the OP might not be getting much of a spot, with the partner looking after the kido and all. But hey, if your out bouldering by yourself, you ain't getting much of a spot either. So go for it. Otherwise, I would recomend a little later than March for warmer weather. And I did check Wilson's web site, they claim to have crash pads stocked to the roof. More camping gear than you can shake a stick at. All the local beta you could use in a lifetime. Etc.

thank you jp_sucks and donald949. i bit my tongue at skellie's reply, having a child wont (and hasnt so far) held me back from climbing, my little girl has already been out at the crag with me a few times. she loves being outdoors, and i'll do my damndest to keep it that way. i thought bouldering a family freindly way to get out and enjoy a new area since my husband doesnt climb that much and has happily volunteered to watch our baby. thanks again

i thought bouldering a family freindly way to get out and enjoy a new area since my husband doesnt climb that much and has happily volunteered to watch our baby. thanks again

Perhaps part of the negativity in the replies stems from your OP, which kind of suggested that it was going to be just you and your baby.

Thankfully, there was only one negative reply. Regardless of whether she was going solo or not, it was still pretty bad advice.

Reminds me of the criticism Alison Hargreaves got for climbing Eiger Norwand whilst preggers. When asked why she didn't bring her family to basecamp, she pointed out that none of her male climbing partners had toted along their young families.

To the OP, I know nothing about the area, but have a great time crushing.

Allow me to justify my response. You're going camping in the desert. It can be very hot, or very cold. Assuming you luck out and bring all of the right clothing for any type of condition (freezing, HOT, snow, wind...) food, water, sunscreen, first aid kit, and whatever a baby requires day-to-day, I guess you have a decent chance of having a good trip. There are A LOT of possible conditions to prepare for that a normal human can suffer through, but that could be extremely unhealthy for an infant.

Then there's the consideration that you could get hurt. Alone you might be able to drag yourself back to civilization, but now you've got a helpless infant to deal with, too.

And what if you have to do some scrambling (or any other unexpected activity that requires both hands)...

And lastly (and probably leastly) no one wants to hear your infant have a screaming fit while they're out there trying to enjoy themselves. (I suppose your infant doesn't cry. Heard that one too many times...)

These are all things that I've learned from bringing my DOG on trips with me, and he's mostly self-sufficient. And I STILL don't bring him to a new area for the first time, until I scope it out.

I'm not trying to be a jerk. I'm just saying, bringing an infant on a climbing trip to the fairly remote desert, where you've never been before, seems like a bad idea.

ok, your point is totally taken. have you ever been that person on the plane with the screaming child? sometimes they just scream, just like dogs sometimes bark. the difference with the plane and the desert? if my daugher is screaming her head off and wont stop? ill leave. that is the risk i take being a mom and a climber, i will always put my daughter before climbing, but she, by just being alive, wont (ill say it again) stop me from enjoying my passion of climbing. and yes i will most likely forget something if i were to make the trip, who remembers everything? but if you did read my whole message, i also asked of a cheap place to stay, meaning hotel or some such place. i apoligize to keep this angry thread going, but you could have put your reply a little better, like "camping out there at that time of year would be totally crazy with a kid!" or even"please think of others before you bring a cranky baby out to the boulders" and the times ive been out climbing with my daughter i have received mostly praise for keeping climbing with a kid in tow and for getting her out and enjoying the outdoors. i hope to god my daughter keeps doing what she loves when it proves difficult, whatever the reasons. you dont need to reply, good luck with avoiding screaming children in the future

Buttermilks may not be the best place to go with a baby, but not the worst by far, either. You can boulder with very short approaches there, even though some areas have more of an uphill hike, and the ground is mostly flat/coarse sand, with reasonable amount of ground to set up a playpen or a baby tent. I wouldn't worry too much about the kid falling off cliffs, etc. in most places in Buttermilks.

Happies/Sads would be a bit harder to navigate with a baby, but some areas should be O.K.

The campground is bare-bones high desert dry campground. Windy, dusty, pit toilets, no showers. It gets very cold at night, even though you would be climbing in a T-shirt during the day.

Bishop is the nearest town. It is close enough that we drove into town every day, even though we were camping. You can get most of the emergency forgot-to-bring-it-with-me stuff in town, too.

Your best bet is a hotel/motel in town. While the town is small, there are several hotels. I haven't stayed in any of them, but from the looks outside they would be your typical budget motel place.

The campground is bare-bones high desert dry campground. Windy, dusty, pit toilets, no showers. It gets very cold at night, even though you would be climbing in a T-shirt during the day. <snip> Your best bet is a hotel/motel in town. While the town is small, there are several hotels. I haven't stayed in any of them, but from the looks outside they would be your typical budget motel place.

For the life of me I can't remember if we stayed at Brown's Town or the Millpond campground in 2003 (although I think it was the Millpond one), but it was nice enough for ~$25 / night and certainly much nicer than the BLM climbers camp. Showers, flush toilets, etc. But yes, March will still be pretty damned cold at night.

But you might also camp at Horton Creek Campground (also a BLM "primitive" campground, pit toilets no running water, if it's open for the season) or Millpond has showers, toilets, tentsites. http://www.brownscampgrounds.com/default.html

the "most" you'd likely pay for a motel/hotel in Bishop is about $100 at the Holiday Inn Express or Creekside Inn, but you should be able to get into La Quinta or something for $70 - $80 a night.

And like someone said above - the Happy's are usually warmer than the Buttermilks. Plenty of room at both for you and the kidlet. The Sad's are pretty shady and cold.

And don't worry, your baby won't cry/yell nearly as loud as some of the climbers